"They don't make movies like this anymore" is the usual phrase heard about classic movies. More appropriately "They CAN'T make a movie like this anymore" applies to "The Quiet Man".
John Ford directed John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara in a number of classic unforgettable Westerns with a familiar supporting cast including Ward Bond, Victor McLaughlin, Mildred Natwick and other pros. "The Quiet Man" moves these familiar icons from the post Civil War American West to the post World War II rural Ireland.
You don't have to be Irish to appreciate the visual beauty of the Irish countryside and villages or the beauty of Maureen O'Hara, but your appreciation of the story is enhanced if you know something about the unique Irish culture.
Ireland and America have been tightly bonded from the earliest Colonial Days of America and are permanently intertwined since the Potato Famine of the 1840's sent tens of millions of immigrants to populate the vast U.S.
John Ford perfectly casts John Wayne as the Irish born, U.S. raised troubled ex-boxer returning to his birthplace and Maureen O'Hara as the Irish beauty . The rest of the lovingly assembled cast contains mostly familiar faces in supporting roles.
The script covers vast ground in a mostly light-hearted manner. The story plays like most John Ford/John Wayne/Maureen O'Hara movies as one step larger than life.
It's clear that everyone appearing in this movie LOVES being in the movie. Maureen O'Hara never looked more beautiful and thrives as the woman in the middle between two warring men, her brother (Victor McLauglin) and her suitor (John Wayne).
The over-the-top village to village brawl between John Wayne and Victor McLaughlin is hilarious and ultimately warm hearted. It sums up the strange Irish notion that you have to physically pummel a man before you can have his friendship and respect.
There are big scenes and little scenes, but every scene is a delight.
This is a movie that can't and won't ever be made again. It's a movie that everyone should enjoy.
